As nonprofits and public benefit organisations, we need to ensure our sustainability for the long term as it gives security and confidence to those in our communities. By merging, we can better adapt to the changing environment, remain relevant in an increasingly competitive market, and ensure we continue to meet the needs of older adults while balancing the lifestyle they want (would like) to have, their health and their finances. Our continuum of products, services and person-directed approach will remain at the heart of what we do.

The synergy between HADCA and PADCA will increase the geographic and market share. Pooling resources and skills will improve and expand the service and product basket offered. The new organisation will leverage the opportunity for growth in affordable, older, adult-centred, communities in Pietermaritzburg, Hilton and Howick areas.

As two of the oldest and most recognised NPOs providing accommodation and care services for older adults in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, we face the same intense competition from the private sector, the same frail care vacancies, we target the same market segments, and we have a similar ethos. Both organisations bring strong individual qualities to the table. HADCA has 48 years of experience, and extensive properties in the attractive UMngeni Municipality, whilst PADCA has 75 years of experience in the older adults residential and care sectors, substantial investments and properties. Combined, the two organisations offer a wide range of services and residential communities to meet the needs of older adults.

True2you is working with both organisations to help with this transition and ensure that through merging and coming together we are combining our best to be stronger in the future. They are also educating and training us all on person-directed support which will continue to be our approach in the new organisation. We have held a series of workshops to introduce PADCA and HADCA to person-directed support and will be continuing on this journey.

With the guidance of true2you, we will be hosting Community Conversations to create opportunities for individuals to share stories that celebrate what HADCA and PADCA mean to them and what they have achieved over so many years. Sharing what we all value, have to contribute, strengths that already exist and that we want to take into the future. This will culminate in an Appreciative Inquiry Celebration.

Leadership

A merger between HADCA and PADCA will provide the benefits of combining staffing skills and reducing the operating costs of the management team. We will have a knowledgeable, strategic management team overseeing our staff complement. This team has the experience and expertise required to run a large organisation. Trevor Clowes, the current CEO of PADCA, will become the CEO of the new organisation.

Financial Stability

By merging, we can bring to market a product and service mix to best meet the needs of a range of older adults in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. We believe that we will create a strong brand offering for older adults.

Furthermore, it will bring financial stability to the PADCA and HADCA facilities by reducing overall costs and increasing efficiencies by having a single management team. From a financial and budget forecasting viewpoint, the merged organisation looks far healthier than the two individual organisations.

The PADCA Trust will offer financial backing by giving grants and special projects funding.

We will also continue to receive and appreciate the generous contributions in the form of funding, goods in kind, time and talents from our communities.

NGO Law is navigating us through this transition. We have registered a Non-Profit Company This is the starting point for the new organisation. The Memorandum of Understanding has been signed and the founding document (Letter of Incorporation) for the new organisation is being drafted. We have applied to SARS for our Public Benefit Organisation number and to the Department of Social Work for our Non-Profit Organisation number.

Recently you should have seen the announcement of our new organisation’s name, Mowana. This beautiful word is rooted in African languages and means ‘tree of life’.

Mowana is the final product of the extensive naming process which began with suggestions from the HADCA and PADCA communities. There was a lovely response and a list of possible names was compiled.

The task then fell to the brand merger team, with representatives from both HADCA and PADCA, to choose the new name.

The first round of refinements removed those names that didn’t meet the agreed guidelines. A shortlist was examined in terms of:

• Meaning - What are the connotations of the words in different cultures and across mindsets?
• Availability - Is there another organisation, in the industry or so large as to intrude, using the name?
• Web address - Is the website (domain) address available?
• Ease of spelling and pronouncing - especially when typing it to search or saying it over the phone.

Mowana is the suggestion that ticks all the blocks! We hope you love it as much as we do.

Whilst working through the process with NGO Law, several key documents for the trust and NPC need the name to be reflected prior to our official merge in April 2024.

The name will be accompanied by the icon, logo and descriptor. The journey, full logo and story behind the name will be revealed near the end of March as originally planned. We don’t want to rush this process as we have one chance to make a great impression. We are looking to launch the new organisation with pride and in a way that creates an impact, raising its profile and creating awareness amongst the target audiences. We want people to talk about it and to help us share our story!

We hope you will be one of those advocates as we head into the launch. We will be sharing several teasers you can look out for, which will hint at the various elements as we head toward the big reveal!

Person-directed support is an enhancement of person-centred care and values the older individual’s right to autonomy thus they give direction and are the ones making decisions, as far as is practically possible.

Support includes all care and support services, but also ensures that these services are provided according to the expressed needs of the older individual and not as is assumed by others.

Person-directed support itself is a relatively new approach and yet it is built on long-standing and proven models of care and engagement that values the dignity and well-being of each individual.

We will officially be one organisation on 1 April 2024.

Sunnyside Park Home occupies a unique role by providing accommodation and care for residents with a broad range of financial resources including those on limited incomes. Although operating at a deficit, we have a financial system in place to manage the deficit and we are committed to retaining Sunnyside as a sustainable community, in keeping with our ethos. Its location and campus offer an ideal space to further develop this older adult community.

Our community services programmes are continuing and will expand into the UMngeni area. The Community Services Team helps older adults and their families find a way through the maze of problems and challenges, and explore different options to best meet each individual’s circumstances. We see every older adult assisted as part of the family whether based in the community or one of the accommodation facilities. Additionally, our community service team will guide each resident through the merger transition.

At the level of the individual living in one of the PADCA or HADCA communities, there will be little change in the day-to-day operation of the communities.

With the change from NPO to NPC there will be changes to the membership status, which is dictated by law. Primarily, membership will be voluntary, not compulsory. Further clarity is required, and we are discussing this

All current contracts will be honoured in their current form.

Anyone living with us, requiring assisted living, will be given preferential status to move within the new organisation.

These are complex topics. We will be seeking the solution that best serves our communities especially those currently in villages with us and on the waiting lists.  As progress is made, updates will be circulated to the relevant parties